Long Island locals come out in force

Source:
NYSUT United

Caption: Photo by Kristy Leibowitz.

A grass-roots rally organized by Connetquot TA President Tony Felicio drew thousands of Long Islanders to protest Gov. Cuomo's education policies while he spoke at a Suffolk County Democratic Committee dinner in Holbrook.

"I teach [ninth grade] special education and my concern is that some of my students are not going to graduate high school now because of the current spate of education reform policies, the lack of state aid and the impact of the tax cap and tax freeze," said Three Villages TA's Sue Garcia. "How do I explain that to them?"

Deer Park TA President Bruce Sander was a businessman before he became a teacher 14 years ago.

He said the state's current model for education funding just doesn't add up.

"Every year, we have more mandatory costs, and less funding, more mandatory costs, and less funding," he said. "It's destroying us."

As the photo above shows, the line stretched down the street for blocks. For more on this story and additional photos, visit www.nysut.org.